Good luck to everyone in their exams today! I am sure you will all be great!
Ms B.
Thursday, 5 May 2016
Thursday, 28 April 2016
More notes now up for all NQ classes! Good Luck!
A very best of luck to you all in your exams: I have no doubt that, with continued revision and hard work, you will all do well. Please remember that you can contact me via the blog comments section or via the email link in the profile section at any time if you need help.
It has been a pleasure teaching you all this year,
Ms B.
It has been a pleasure teaching you all this year,
Ms B.
Monday, 11 April 2016
School Closure- notes and work for S4/S5/S6 classes.
The school hopes to be open tomorrow but I am aware that some of you will be anxious due to impending exams and that we are all a little short for time as it is. As a result, I will continue to put work up here while I cannot see you. Please use the e-mail on the profile link to send any questions or work to me.
S4A1- Talks will be performed as soon as we return to school. We may need to hold some assessments at breaks and lunch to free up time.
I have put up notes for Hathaway on the 4A1 Duffy poetry page for you. Please use these notes to annotate your poem and fill in your overview sheet for all poems completed so far. Overview and Themes sheets can be found at a link at the bottom of the Duffy notes page.
Once you have completed that, you can attempt the following essay question on 'Lord of The Flies':
Choose a novel which has a key incident.
Give a brief account of the incident, and by referring to appropriate techniques, show how this incident is important to the text as a whole
S5B3- You should have completed the word-choice and imagery work and your essay for 'All that Glisters' for today. If you can, please get a friend or class-mate to read over your essay and peer-assess it for you. Try to improve it based on your peer-assessment.
You should also read over 'Bold Girls' revision notes on blog.
S5B2 (Ms Cobb's class)- Read over 'Bold Girls' notes on blog and make revision notes from these.
Higher- S5A1. We will now be concentrating on 'Cone Gatherers' revision. Please read over the notes on this blog to revise and then attempt the following practice paper below. Be ready to hand in answers on Friday:
Text 5
—
Prose
The Cone-Gatherers by Robin Jenkins
This extract is taken from Chapter Four. Duror has gone to the Big House to see Lady
Runcie-Campbell.
Lady Runcie-Campbell was in the office at the front of the house writing letters. When
he knocked, she bade him enter in her clear courteous musical voice.
A stranger, hearing her, would have anticipated some kind of loveliness in so charming a
speaker; he might not, however, have expected to find such outstanding beauty of face
and form married to such earnestness of spirit; and he would assuredly have been both
startled and impressed.
Duror, who knew her well, had been afraid that in her presence he might be shamed or
inspired into abandoning his scheme against the cone-gatherers. In spite of her clothes,
expensive though simple, of her valuable adornments such as earrings, brooches, and
rings, and of her sometimes almost mystical sense of responsibility as a representative of
the ruling class, she had an ability to exalt people out of their humdrum selves. Indeed,
Duror often associated religion not with the smell of pinewood pews or of damp Bibles,
but rather with her perfume, so elusive to describe. Her father the judge had
bequeathed to her a passion for justice, profound and intelligent; and a determination to
see right done, even at the expense of rank or pride. Her husband Sir Colin was orthodox,
instinctively preferring the way of a world that for many generations had allowed his
family to enjoy position and wealth. Therefore he had grumbled at his wife’s
conscientiousness, and was fond of pointing out, with affection but without sympathy, the
contradiction between her emulation of Christ and her eminence as a baronet’s wife.
She would have given the cone-gatherers the use of the beach-hut, if Duror had not
dissuaded her; and she had not forgotten to ask him afterwards what their hut was like.
He had had to lie.
Now, when he was going to lie again, this time knowing it would implicate her in his
chosen evil, he felt that he was about to commit before her eyes an obscene gesture,
such as he had falsely accused the dwarf of making. In the sunny scented room
therefore, where the happy voices of the cricket players on the lawn could be heard, he
suddenly saw himself standing up to the neck in a black filth, like a stags’ wallowing pool
deep in the wood. High above the trees shone the sun and everywhere birds sang; but
this filth, as he watched, crept up until it entered his mouth, covered his ears, blinded
his eyes, and so annihilated him. So would he perish, he knew; and somewhere in the
vision, as a presence, exciting him so that his heart beat fast, but never visible, was a
hand outstretched to help him out of that mire, if he wished to be helped.
He saw her hand with its glittering rings held out to invite him to sit down.
“Good morning, Duror,” she said, with a smile. “Isn’t it just splendid?”
“Yes, my lady.”
She looked at him frankly and sympathetically: it was obvious she attributed his subdued
tone to sorrow over his wife. If at the same time she noticed with surprise that he hadn’t
shaved, it did not diminish her sympathy, as it would have her husband’s.
“How is Mrs. Duror?” she asked gently.
“Not too well, I’m sorry to say, my lady. This spell of fine weather has upset her. She
asked me to thank you for the flowers.”
She was so slim, golden-haired, and vital, that her solicitude for Peggy gripped him like a
fierce cramp in his belly.
She noticed how pale he had turned, how ill he looked.
“I often think of your poor wife, Duror,” she said.
She glanced at her husband’s portrait in uniform on the desk in front of her.
Duror could not see the photograph from where he sat, but he could see clearly enough in
his imagination the original, as gawky as she was beautiful, as glum as she was gay, and as
matter-of-fact as she was compassionate.
“This war,” she went on quickly, “with its dreadful separations has shown me at least
what she has missed all these years. Something has come between us and the things we
love, the things on which our faith depends: flowers and dogs and trees and friends.
She’s been cut off so much longer.”
Questions
29. look at lines 1—19.
By referring to at least two examples, analyse how Jenkins’s use of language creates
a positive impression of lady Runcie-Campbell. (4)
30. look at lines 23—43.
By referring to two examples, analyse how the writer uses language to convey the
contrast between Duror and lady Runcie-Campbell. (4)
31.look at lines 50—53.
Explain why lady Runcie-Campbell now feels more able to identify with Peggy’s situation. (2)
32. In the novel, Duror is presented not just as an evil character, but one who might be
worthy of some sympathy.
With reference to this extract and elsewhere in the novel, explain how both aspects of Duror’s character are portrayed. (10)
S4A1- Talks will be performed as soon as we return to school. We may need to hold some assessments at breaks and lunch to free up time.
I have put up notes for Hathaway on the 4A1 Duffy poetry page for you. Please use these notes to annotate your poem and fill in your overview sheet for all poems completed so far. Overview and Themes sheets can be found at a link at the bottom of the Duffy notes page.
Once you have completed that, you can attempt the following essay question on 'Lord of The Flies':
Choose a novel which has a key incident.
Give a brief account of the incident, and by referring to appropriate techniques, show how this incident is important to the text as a whole
S5B3- You should have completed the word-choice and imagery work and your essay for 'All that Glisters' for today. If you can, please get a friend or class-mate to read over your essay and peer-assess it for you. Try to improve it based on your peer-assessment.
You should also read over 'Bold Girls' revision notes on blog.
S5B2 (Ms Cobb's class)- Read over 'Bold Girls' notes on blog and make revision notes from these.
Higher- S5A1. We will now be concentrating on 'Cone Gatherers' revision. Please read over the notes on this blog to revise and then attempt the following practice paper below. Be ready to hand in answers on Friday:
Text 5
—
Prose
The Cone-Gatherers by Robin Jenkins
This extract is taken from Chapter Four. Duror has gone to the Big House to see Lady
Runcie-Campbell.
Lady Runcie-Campbell was in the office at the front of the house writing letters. When
he knocked, she bade him enter in her clear courteous musical voice.
A stranger, hearing her, would have anticipated some kind of loveliness in so charming a
speaker; he might not, however, have expected to find such outstanding beauty of face
and form married to such earnestness of spirit; and he would assuredly have been both
startled and impressed.
Duror, who knew her well, had been afraid that in her presence he might be shamed or
inspired into abandoning his scheme against the cone-gatherers. In spite of her clothes,
expensive though simple, of her valuable adornments such as earrings, brooches, and
rings, and of her sometimes almost mystical sense of responsibility as a representative of
the ruling class, she had an ability to exalt people out of their humdrum selves. Indeed,
Duror often associated religion not with the smell of pinewood pews or of damp Bibles,
but rather with her perfume, so elusive to describe. Her father the judge had
bequeathed to her a passion for justice, profound and intelligent; and a determination to
see right done, even at the expense of rank or pride. Her husband Sir Colin was orthodox,
instinctively preferring the way of a world that for many generations had allowed his
family to enjoy position and wealth. Therefore he had grumbled at his wife’s
conscientiousness, and was fond of pointing out, with affection but without sympathy, the
contradiction between her emulation of Christ and her eminence as a baronet’s wife.
She would have given the cone-gatherers the use of the beach-hut, if Duror had not
dissuaded her; and she had not forgotten to ask him afterwards what their hut was like.
He had had to lie.
Now, when he was going to lie again, this time knowing it would implicate her in his
chosen evil, he felt that he was about to commit before her eyes an obscene gesture,
such as he had falsely accused the dwarf of making. In the sunny scented room
therefore, where the happy voices of the cricket players on the lawn could be heard, he
suddenly saw himself standing up to the neck in a black filth, like a stags’ wallowing pool
deep in the wood. High above the trees shone the sun and everywhere birds sang; but
this filth, as he watched, crept up until it entered his mouth, covered his ears, blinded
his eyes, and so annihilated him. So would he perish, he knew; and somewhere in the
vision, as a presence, exciting him so that his heart beat fast, but never visible, was a
hand outstretched to help him out of that mire, if he wished to be helped.
He saw her hand with its glittering rings held out to invite him to sit down.
“Good morning, Duror,” she said, with a smile. “Isn’t it just splendid?”
“Yes, my lady.”
She looked at him frankly and sympathetically: it was obvious she attributed his subdued
tone to sorrow over his wife. If at the same time she noticed with surprise that he hadn’t
shaved, it did not diminish her sympathy, as it would have her husband’s.
“How is Mrs. Duror?” she asked gently.
“Not too well, I’m sorry to say, my lady. This spell of fine weather has upset her. She
asked me to thank you for the flowers.”
She was so slim, golden-haired, and vital, that her solicitude for Peggy gripped him like a
fierce cramp in his belly.
She noticed how pale he had turned, how ill he looked.
“I often think of your poor wife, Duror,” she said.
She glanced at her husband’s portrait in uniform on the desk in front of her.
Duror could not see the photograph from where he sat, but he could see clearly enough in
his imagination the original, as gawky as she was beautiful, as glum as she was gay, and as
matter-of-fact as she was compassionate.
“This war,” she went on quickly, “with its dreadful separations has shown me at least
what she has missed all these years. Something has come between us and the things we
love, the things on which our faith depends: flowers and dogs and trees and friends.
She’s been cut off so much longer.”
Questions
29. look at lines 1—19.
By referring to at least two examples, analyse how Jenkins’s use of language creates
a positive impression of lady Runcie-Campbell. (4)
30. look at lines 23—43.
By referring to two examples, analyse how the writer uses language to convey the
contrast between Duror and lady Runcie-Campbell. (4)
31.look at lines 50—53.
Explain why lady Runcie-Campbell now feels more able to identify with Peggy’s situation. (2)
32. In the novel, Duror is presented not just as an evil character, but one who might be
worthy of some sympathy.
With reference to this extract and elsewhere in the novel, explain how both aspects of Duror’s character are portrayed. (10)
Friday, 18 March 2016
Higher talk planning sheets and completed work
There are 2 poly-pockets pinned to my classroom door containing the above, should you wish to pop into the school over the weekend to collect and prepare for Monday!
Thanks,
Ms B.
Thanks,
Ms B.
Higher Talks
Please remember that Higher talk assessments begin on Monday. Here is the advice that I was going to give you today:
‘The bottom line is, public speaking isn’t drilled into us at school the way it is American kids – and it ought to be. Most of us only find ourselves in the spotlight as adults, having built it up to A Big Scary Thing in our minds. But because this now feels natural to me as breathing – I don’t just like it, I really and truly enjoy every last second of it – I’m constantly amazed by how many women say they couldn’t possibly do it. How unconfident they feel, in front of an audience. (It’s not exclusively a female issue – but perhaps men feel less free to admit it.) Fact is, today – even if it’s presenting a report to a board of executives, or standing up at the annual staff get-together to offer a few words of praise to a departing colleague – most of us are going to have to open our mouths to speak in public. Josephine Fairley-‘The Telegraph’
Hate giving presentations? You are not alone
Wallechinsky et al (1977):
Asked 3000 pupils “What do you fear most?”
41% placed public speaking at the top of their list
(above the fear of sickness, loneliness or death…)
Why do we hate talks so much?
Mostly we are scared of making a fool of ourselves in front of others, but please remember that you are in a HIgher class- evenryone is in the same boat and they all know how nerve-wracking it is. No-one is going to make fin of you, and since your talks are on an essay that you have already written and had marked- you can guarentee that your subject and techniques used are going to be good!
Why do we have to perform solo talks?
- It is highly unlikely that your career path will allow you to avoid speaking your mind publicly.
- Information is redundant if it is not shared.
- Organisations are aware that people prefer listening to messages rather than reading them.
- Speaking to more than one person allows a healthy and dynamic exchange of views and is the quickest way to exchange information to a large number at once.
- There are also many cases outside of a career where an ability to speak publicly is incredibly useful: including interviews etc
Performing
What makes a good talk?
In order to produce a good talk you must be able to
• Organise and summarise complex information effectively.
• Communicate this information clearly.
• Manage time efficiently.
These are all skills which will help you learn.
These are also highly marketable skills.
General performance tips
1. Finding the right register:
Most speech is conversational.
Most written text is grammatically convoluted.
Getting the right balance between formality and informality in a presentation is very tricky.
• Avoid colloquialisms (“sort of” or “kinda”)
• Try to avoid erms and ums.
• You want your audience to respect you, not like you.
• Try to speak more slowly than you would normally.
• Use pauses for emphasis (as opposed to raising your voice)
• Don’t let your voice fade away at the end of sentences.
• Try to avoid erms and ums.
• You want your audience to respect you, not like you.
• Try to speak more slowly than you would normally.
• Use pauses for emphasis (as opposed to raising your voice)
• Don’t let your voice fade away at the end of sentences.
Anxiety reduction
The easiest way to reduce anxiety is to have a well prepared and well rehearsed presentation.
However, if nerves are still a problem, try the following…
• Visualisation: Imagine yourself giving a brilliant presentation.
• Breath deeply.
• Relax muscles / Release tension.
• Take a script which you can read if all else fails.
• Do something else really stressful just before…(drastic, but works!)
Unfortunately, the most effective treatment for public speaking anxiety is exposure. E.g. it gets better with practice
Know your audience:
This is easy for you - they will be fellow students plus me.
In other words, the majority will know as much or less than you do about the topic.
Academics have to face a wide variety of different audiences.
I have talked about my research/teaching to:
• Members of the public
• Other teachers and SMT- including those outwith this school!
• Parents and pupils
• University pupils
In each case, the talk had to be tailored appropriately, but a good general rule is that it pays to keep things simple.
Practice
• Practice giving the presentation to a friendly audience and ask them for honest and constructive criticism.
• Be prepared for it to hurt!
• Act on it.
• Meeting the time-limit is very important, and requires practice.
• So practice out loud on your own with a clock.
• Practice can be counter productive - if its just winding you up, stop!
•Record yourself and watch back- embarrassing perhaps but then you can see your mistakes and fix them!
Misc
• Make eye contact.
• Talk clearly to the back of the audience.
• Don’t mumble the ends of sentences.
• Be enthusiastic (or pretend…)
• Ask me to warn you when you have two minutes left.
• The only way it gets better is to give more talks. So practice!
• Talk clearly to the back of the audience.
• Don’t mumble the ends of sentences.
• Be enthusiastic (or pretend…)
• Ask me to warn you when you have two minutes left.
• The only way it gets better is to give more talks. So practice!
• Book yourself a treat for immediately afterwards.
Good Luck!
Tuesday, 15 March 2016
Friday, 12 February 2016
Higher homework for Feb break (sorry!)
Persuasive proposals to be completed for Monday 22nd (first day back!!)
'Queens English Society' Task- Choose a stance- whether you belive the society should have been closed or not- then change the article to persuade. Use the information in the article and bend it. Add lots of persuasive techniques and any other info you can find. Try to structure it properly. Try to make it stylish and powerful!
Have a lovely holiday!!
'Queens English Society' Task- Choose a stance- whether you belive the society should have been closed or not- then change the article to persuade. Use the information in the article and bend it. Add lots of persuasive techniques and any other info you can find. Try to structure it properly. Try to make it stylish and powerful!
Have a lovely holiday!!
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